Shloka 15
अर्जुनस्य लक्ष्यवेधः
Arjuna’s Hitting of the Target at the Svayaṃvara
नानीशैहिं तदा तात भगुभिभवितात्मभि: | वधो हापेक्षित: सर्व: क्षत्रियाणां विहिंसताम्,तात! यह न समझना कि जिस समय क्षत्रियलोग हमारी हिंसा कर रहे थे, उस समय शुद्ध अन्तःकरणवाले हम भृगुवंशी ब्राह्मणोंने असमर्थ होनेके कारण अपने कुलके वधको चुपचाप सह लिया
nāniśaiḥ tadā tāta bhṛgubhir bhāvitātmabhiḥ | vadho hāpekṣitaḥ sarvaḥ kṣatriyāṇāṁ vihiṁsatām ||
Vasiṣṭha nói: “Con yêu, chớ nghĩ rằng khi các Kṣatriya gây bạo lực với chúng ta, thì chúng ta—những Bhṛgu có tâm thanh tịnh và đã tự chế—đã lặng lẽ chịu cảnh cả tộc bị tàn sát vì bất lực. Không phải vì thế mà chúng ta nhẫn nhịn.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vasiṣṭha rejects the idea that moral restraint equals weakness: the Bhṛgus’ endurance of violence was grounded in cultivated self-control and ethical choice, not helpless submission.
Vasiṣṭha addresses a younger listener (“tāta”), clarifying that when Kṣatriyas attacked and killed members of the Bhṛgu lineage, the Brahmins did not passively accept the massacre because they were incapable; he is reframing their response as principled restraint.